Man who killed wife to marry accomplice in prison

A MAN who murdered his wife with the help of a woman who was living in his garden shed is set to marry his accomplice behind bars, it has been reported.

Harry Jarvis, 64, is serving 15 years for the murder of his wife Carol, 60, whose badly decomposed body was found hidden under the floor of their home in Bathgate, West Lothian in 2009.

During the investigation it emerged Rita Heyster, 60, had been living in his garden shed and she was later jailed for four and half years for helping Jarvis hide his wife’s body.

Jarvis insisted during his trial that the pair were merely friends – but now it is reported the pair are set to be married in a ceremony at Addiewell Jail, West Lothian, with sources suggesting he had discussed the service with the resident chaplain.

Heyster was found by police hiding under a bed in the Jarvis home after the concerned children of Carol Jarvis reported her missing – after they became suspicious of claims from their father that she had gone on a trip to Dundee.

Her body was then found under the floorboards, and was so badly decomposed a cause of death could not be determined.

However, in love letters to Heyster, Jarvis made reference to “drugs” and said: “Carol is dying as I write. Then we have the house to ourselves and sell all in it to move on.”

At the time Heyster – who was said to have spent more than £2.5 million inherited from her adopted father, Jus-Rol boss Tommy Forsyth – had set up home on a dingy mattress in a garden shed outside the Jarvis home.

And she even pretended to be Jarvis’s wife when police called looking for the missing woman.

Jarvis’s son Graham, 30, of Livingston, reportedly said: “If she wants to marry him after he kept her in a shed, then good luck. After everything that went on they are welcome to each other. He was married to mum for over 30 years and tried to claim in court that Rita was just a friend so it’s clear he was lying all along.

“This shows how much he denied everything and how the whole thing is a shambles.”

He added: “There is nothing to stop them getting married. But there is a good chance he will just be using her for money and to get stuff into the prison for him.”

Heyster was originally charged with the murder of Carol Jarvis but was cleared when a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to convict her. During a subsequent trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2011 she was convicted of helping her lover, who was described as “a manipulative monster”.